Star Wars: The Silent Watch
by J. Rodd
Summary: This is the story of the true Chosen One's life and parentage, told to you by the witty, silently-watching Vih'Torr space pilot Daro Revan. In other words, a re-write of the entire Star Wars series. AU/deathfic/darkfic/Chosen Wan. Oh, I'm afraid Chapter Eight will be fully operational.(Palpatine humor...ha!) PLEASE R&R! PLEASE! READ AUTHOR'S NOTES!
1. Prologue

**Okay...this is my first AU Star Wars, so bear with me...here goes nothing...**

* * *

**The Silent Watch**

**An AU Star Wars Fic by J.E. Max**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. However, Malak, Quinlan, Daro, Shirin, and Louis were all created by me. Starting with the next chapter, you will see quotes from the Snow Patrol song "Chasing Cars" on the top. The song basically inspired this story and many of these chapters were written listening to it. The reason this is in the disclaimer is because I don't own the song.**_

* * *

**Prologue**

So I hear you're looking for a good story. Well, if that's the case, then I can tell you one hell of a story. It is a long story, twenty-seven years in the making, a story filled with romance and passion, friendship and cutting betrayal, struggle and peace, life and death, and good and evil, a story told through these ever-vigilant, silently watching eyes of mine.

Perhaps I should begin by introducing myself. I'm known by many names, really- "That Crazy Spacer" (For those of you not familiar with the term, "spacer" is an almost derogatory term for "deep space pilot".), "The Escape Artist", "Lady Killer", and, to one person we will be meeting in the immediate future, I'm known simply as "Bastard". But you will call me Daro. That is my real name, after all- Daro Jacen Revan, deep space pilot and military academy escapee.

Now, something you should know from the very beginning is that I am Vih'Torr. Being Vih'Torr is not common – there is literally a one-in-a-million chance that someone would end up being Vih'Torr. But occasionally, it does happen, and when it does, you spend your life having to deal with everyone either pitying you or being afraid of you. And the unfortunate thing is that most people end up being afraid of you, thanks to all the off-world lore that makes the Vih'Torr seem like demonic magicians who are abominations to the human race.

But let's not get off on the wrong foot here. I am just as human as you are- I look, talk, act, and feel one hundred percent human. I cry. I laugh. I get jealous. I lie. I get mad. I don't need to waste time convincing you of that- if you're skeptical, those things will all be proven to you throughout the course of the story. I can assure you of that.

As intelligent as I am, I can infer that you are probably asking yourself _'Okay, this whole pleasantries thing is great, but can he just hurry up and tell me what it is that makes him so special?' _Well, here's your answer- those who are Vih'Torr, like Jedi, have visionary powers. However, unlike the Jedi, our visions are always nonfictional, and whether they occur in the past, present, or future, we never know. Said visions are always seen as if they are happening right before our eyes, and one can never fully know when a vision is coming on. They can be of things on our mind or of things hanging over us, and sometimes they can even be like torturous daydreams, haunting and tormenting us by showing us something that we do not under any circumstances want to see. And if you're thinking, _'How cool is that?! The guy can see anything he could ever want to! I _totally_ wish I could be like him!' _you will soon learn that being born with this power is more of a curse than a blessing.

But enough about me- this is all you need to know, at least for now. This is not my story, after all. It is mine to tell, but it is not the story of me. This is the long, winding, darkly-consoling story of a family and their epic struggle- and my occasional intervention with each member.

And now I invite you to journey onward from this point with me. I can guarantee you moments of surprise, shock, sadness, laughing, and even slight disturbance. I can guarantee you a story that you will most certainly never forget.

So you want a story, huh? I'll give you a story. Prepare yourself now for the story of the Kenobi family- Malak, Shirin, and Obi-Wan.


	2. Love, Innocent and Young

****"_If I lay here, if I just lay here, would you lie with me and just forget the world?"- _Snow Patrol, "_Chasing Cars"_****

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**Chapter 1:**

**Love, Innocent and Young**

And so the story begins.

We begin with a handsome, twenty-year-old Jedi Knight named Malak Kenobi. Strange to see a twenty-year-old knighted, isn't it? Well, he was no ordinary Jedi.

He didn't exactly come from the greatest beginnings. He was born to unwed parents on the planet of Mustafar, and said parents were both dead within a day of his birth. He was then dumped on his aunt and uncle's doorstep, and left in their custody until the Jedi found him.

Malak had one of the highest midi-chlorian counts in the Order's entire history. (Who had the highest, exactly? We will find our soon enough.) So sufficient to say, Malak was special.

Then there was the apprentice, Quinlan Jeshi, a boy three years younger than me. I befriended him when I first arrived on Coruscant , and I met Malak, who was two years older than me, through him. Let's just say that Malak and I didn't like each other even from the get-go.

He was highly esteemed, this Malak character. People looked up at him as if he was some sort of epitome of the Jedi: strong, brave, selfless, intelligent, loyal, obedient, and handsome. He was the last person they would expect to break the Codes. And it would seem as if they were so far to the left on the correctness scale that they were hanging upside down.

It began on a mission to Stewjon, a small farming planet with a war-like history near the Outer Rim. The people were just beginning to recover from a major rebellion, and Malak and Quinlan were stationed there for four months to help keep the peace.

Four months. It definitely wasn't the longest mission they'd ever been on. What could _possibly_ go wrong in four measly little months? Well, I'll tell you: a whole mess of things can go wrong in four months. All hell can break loose in four months. All the _wrong_ things can happen in four months.

Looking back, it's kind of funny to think about: all hell broke loose all because of the one thing that supposedly "makes the world go 'round"..._love._

It started like any other crush. Innocent and young and harmless. (Well, that sure didn't last long, now did it?)

* * *

Malak and Quinlan were perusing the streets of a small township disguised as brothers. They were passing through a marketplace when, lo and behold, Malak saw the most beautiful woman walk by him. She looked maybe a year or two younger than him, and a boy of about eleven or twelve was walking beside her, kicking at the rocks on the gravel road as the girl yelled at him to hurry up.

Malak distracted Quinlan and then went up to the girl and purposely (and yet somehow not obviously) bumped into her. They apologized awkwardly, stared at each in silence just long enough to make it uncomfortable, laughed it off, then just stared again, both of them knowing that they had just found the one meant for them.

They talked for maybe an hour and a half, or however long it took Quinlan to find Malak and manage to rip him away from the girl. And in that window of time, Malak had already made plans to "sneak away and chat a bit more" that night. And every night after that.

How he managed to keep Quinlan in the dark for so long is astounding. It truly is. I can't imagine such a bright fifteen-year-old being so oblivious and easy to dupe.

But, like in any other plan, the hoodwinking all went down in a ball of flames towards the end of the third month.

And this, my friend, is where our story gets interesting.

* * *

I had this vision a while after it happened.

One night, Quinlan awoke for no reason in particular. But it was only a brief awakening; you know, like when your eyes open for a split second and then they close again and you go back to sleep. Only, he couldn't go back to sleep. Something felt out of place.

He forced his eyes open once again and then sat up, rubbing his eyes and stretching. He turned to look at the cot across from his, expecting to see the long, auburn-haired figure that was Malak curled up into a ball under his blanket with his back to Quinlan. As you may have already guessed, that wasn't what he saw.

The blanket was cast aside, and the black night tunic was folded neatly on the edge of the bed. His boots weren't where Quinlan had remembered him putting them, and the brown cloak that he would drape over himself on especially cold nights such as this one was gone. So either this was a dream, or Malak had snuck out.

He pulled himself out of bed and slipped his robe on. After that, he reached over into his backpack and pulled out a new glow rod, snapping it to illuminate the viscous green liquid inside. He didn't have the patience to put on his boots, so he just slipped his feet into a pair of sandals and headed out of the tent.

As soon as he stepped out into the cold air, he could hear voices from a distance away. His guess was that they were coming from the lake near their campground. He decided to investigate.

Quinlan pulled himself down onto his stomach and crawled towards the series of bushes in front of him, knowing that behind them lay the beautifully remote lake- and the source of the voices. As he neared the bushes, the voices and their spoken words became more coherent. Quinlan's suspicions were confirmed - it was Malak, alright. But Malak and a...girl?

The young Jedi poked his head up above the bush ever so slightly, just enough to see Malak sitting by the edge of the lake with his arm wrapped around a girl.

Quinlan, half intrigued and half confused, leaned in closer to hear their conversation.

"I can extend the mission," Malak said quietly. "Two more months, perhaps?"

"But how long until the Council finds out?" the girl persisted. "One extension will turn into two and soon enough the Council will know something is going on."

Quinlan gasped. It couldn't be possible. It just couldn't. His loyal, obedient Master was NOT breaking the Codes right there in front of him. He just _wasn't_.

Malak nodded. "I've been thinking about that," he said nonchalantly. "And all this thinking has led me to something: perhaps my place is not amongst the ranks of the Jedi, but here with you."

"Malak, don't do this," the girl said, reaching over and stroking his auburn hair. "Don't just throw everything away-"

"But I have to," the Jedi replied. "Otherwise, I'd be living a lie. I want to be happy and not have to live with the guilt of breaking the Codes."

"So your solution to that is just picking up and leaving behind something you've been preparing for your entire life? You're just going to flush it all down the drain?"

There was a silence.

Quinlan receded into the bushes. Why hadn't he seen this coming? He should have known that, with a Master as handsome as his, it was bound to happen sooner or later. But why was he succumbing to his desire so easily?

"What about your apprentice?" the girl asked softly, breaking the silence. Quinlan perked up again.

"He'll...he'll be okay," Malak said. "Quinlan's tough. He can take it. And he is ready for this sort of thing."

"No, I'm not." The words slipped unbidden from the young Jedi's mouth. Luckily it was just a whisper, so no one else heard it.

"So I've made up my mind...I'm leaving the Order. For you, darling," Malak said, tenderly kissing the girl's cheek.

"Oh, Malak-"

Malak hushed her, and there was a long silence that followed. They just stared into each other's eyes, both of them love-struck and yearning for the other to make the next move. Quinlan looked nervous, and I had a feeling he knew what was going to happen next.

The stars seemed to fall right in between them, giving off a faint light that was coaxing the two of them towards each other. Malak's eyes were the first to close, and he leaned inward, gently placing his lips against the girl's.

That kiss probably hit Quinlan harder than a slap across the face. He couldn't watch any longer. I would imagine that he felt beyond betrayed, forgotten, and invisible. He heaved himself up with a heavy sigh, but he tripped over the glow rod and fell forward into the bushes with a yelp.

Malak and the girl immediately let go of each other. Malak jumped up, not at all expecting to see Quinlan's upper body heaving itself out of the bushes.

"Quinlan?!" he demanded. "Why are you out of bed, boy?!"

The anger in his face slowly melted away as he studied the most betrayed look on the face of his apprentice.

"You...you...have a _girlfriend_?"

Malak said nothing, and the girl moved closer to him, resting one hand on his shoulder and slipping the other under his shirt and rubbing his muscular chest to relax him.

Quinlan pulled himself out of the bushes and stared the Master down, his brow furrowing and his face growing hot with anger.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" he cried vehemently. "Did you really think that I would just turn around and blab to the Council about it?! I could have kept it a secret!"

"Quinlan, please-"

"No! Please nothing! You can't trust me, apparently! Apparently, you can't trust the person who always sticks by you and backs you up on everything! Apparently, it's just _so _easy to keep a huge secret from your _brother_ and then just leave him behind!"

He paused and caught the look on his Master's face- shock, sadness, and regret all rolled into one haunting look.

"I...I'm sorry Malak," he said softly. Now it was time for the words he knew his Master was expecting out of him. "This isn't my business, and I never should have snuck out. I respect your wishes."

Malak nodded slowly. "Go back to sleep, Padawan," he said gently. "We'll talk more about this in the morning.

Quinlan wanted to say something more, but the tremendous lump in his throat kept him from doing so. With tears of anger, shock, and sadness all stinging his eyes, he turned and walked back towards the tent. After he was a good distance away but still within earshot, he heard Malak say, "Shirin...I'm very afraid now...for both him and myself..."

* * *

When Malak and Quinlan returned to Coruscant two days later, a lot of things happened. For starters, Malak filed his resignation. It took the Council about a month, but they accepted (reluctantly, if I do say so myself), and then they gave him a week to pack. All traces of him were erased from the archives; any data on him was lost completely. And from one second to the next, it was as if he had never existed.

The private quarters of Malak Kenobi and Quinlan Jeshi was not a great place to be during that packing week. After Malak's resignation had finally been approved, arguments and tears were all that ensued.

And ever since their arrival, Quinlan had begun to sense something a bit off in Malak.

There was pent-up anger. His remarks were more bitter. He was more easily bothered. His overall being seemed more unstable, distant, and antagonistic than Quinlan had ever seen it. Sometimes, he would wake up, and Malak wouldn't be in the room. Other times, he would just randomly take off in the middle of the day. He was undergoing a definite change.

There was more fear in him than he was allowing himself to show. And for a Jedi, fear is like lightening, and the darkside is like thunder.


	3. While You Loved Me

_**"We'll do it all...Everything...On our own."**__** \- **_**Snow Patrol, "_Chasing Cars"_**

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**Chapter 2:**

**While You Loved Me**

After Malak was packed up and ready to leave, he asked me if I could take him and Quinlan to Stewjon. (I didn't know why he was bringing the boy. And I didn't ask. Not my business.) As much as I didn't want to, he offered to pay me, so I agreed.

A day later, we were landing near some ancient ruin of something I can't remember the name of on Stewjon. There was a sort of "castle", if you will, nearby it that belonged to the girl's family. Supposedly, that was the destination. And apparently, I was invited to stay as well, and even though I wasn't exactly comfortable with the company, I decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, there would actually be edible food and comfortable beds for once.

I will admit that I was a bit anxious to meet this girl, because from Quinlan's descriptions, I was picturing some sort of sexy goddess from another galaxy that would slowly but surely lure a man to his death with her beauty. What I really saw was better- or worse.

As soon as we landed, Malak rushed out of the ship and left me and the boy with the bags. What a lazy ass. Beauty doesn't mean you should get everything served to you on a silver platter, you know. But I don't think he ever got that memo.

Quinlan and I picked up as many of his bags as we could carry (I'm not kidding when I say that there was probably rocks in there), and when we came down, I finally saw said girlfriend.

For a moment, I was seriously convinced that my ex-girlfriend was staring back at me. _That's not really her, stupid boy_, I told myself. _You're seeing things. _Yes, that was it. I was just seeing things. Or...was I?

"Daro?" the familiar voice asked.

So I wasn't crazy. It was her.

I said nothing in response. I just stared. I felt like someone had just hit me with a poison dart.

"I'm sorry, you actually _know_ this piece of trash?" Malak asked, casting a long, well-muscled arm in my direction.

"He's not trash," she corrected sharply. I knew she was trying to divert the question.

On an ordinary day, I would have agreed. But on that day, I felt like the nastiest, trashiest, piece of shit that side of the galaxy. This wasn't happening. This just wasn't happening.

"How do you know him?" Malak demanded.

She didn't answer.

He turned to me, and I wanted to say something, but no words actually made it out of my mouth. This was still too shocking. Shirin Shang, the girl I had loved during my military academy days and broken up with over something absolutely ridiculous (I was fifteen when I broke up with her, so three years prior to this), was not with _Malak_. _Yes_, I broke up with her, but I regretted that to an extent that cannot be expressed in words. It was bad enough that she was in my very soul, tormenting me, and I was forced to think of her every day, but seeing her with this man made me feel terrible. I had left her so desperate for love that she had hooked up with that narcissist Jedi.

I spent a long time analyzing the looks on their faces. Malak: confused. Shirin: surprised. But in a good way.

I began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, she still loved me, and that there was still a small scintilla of hope that I could make her desire me once again. My hopes were then ruthlessly murdered as he pulled her close to him and kissed the top of her head, causing them to laugh and look at each other with those terrible love-sick-puppy faces that, on an ordinary day, would make me want to puke my guts out. But this was not an ordinary day.

He whispered something to her, and they rubbed the tips of their noses against each other and laughed again.

Make that two poison darts. Double ouch.

They turned and walked off, and the image of their linked hands instantly began to torture me. The only words that came to mind: That should be me.

Just as they disappeared from view completely, the boy staggered down the ramp with the last of the luggage. "She's pretty hot, huh?" he asked as he brought the bags over to me.

"Yeah," I breathed, picking up my share of luggage. I wondered if he would believe me if I told him.

He started dragging the bags up the stairs and I followed him, trying to think of anything other than Malak or Shirin or break-ups.

* * *

I wandered about the area restlessly, trying to avoid the others and find peaceful solitude at the same time. I looped back around to the stair case near the entrance. There was a beautiful, serene view of the lake over the balcony, so I decided to situate myself there. I leaned up against the railing, shut my eyes, and gave a heavy sigh. This was going to be a long, long couple of days. I just wanted to leave. But, at the same time, there was still a possibility...

I forced my eyes open. I felt someone staring at me, and it was making me extremely uneasy.

I looked to my left, and maybe twenty feet away stood Shirin, sparkling russet eyes focused on me.

I turned away quickly and returned my focus to the lake. I knew she was still looking at me. _Don't think about it_, I told myself. _She's not really looking at me like she's still in love with me. You're just imagining this, stupid boy. It's just a jealousy fantasy._

I soon heard soft footsteps next to me, but I didn't turn around. I knew she was standing next to me, but I acted like I didn't.

"Surprised to see me?" she asked softly.

I responded with a sigh, refusing to break my focus on that God-damned lake. _Now is not the time for this_, I thought. _I'm still getting over the initial shock._

"Daro..."

I whipped around to face her. "Don't waste your time," I snapped. "I don't need your sympathy now. Besides, you know he'd kill the both of us if he saw us."

"He wouldn't."

"You don't know him like I do." The words hung in the air and stayed there.

She moved closer to me. "What's bothering you?" she asked as she reached out and gently touched my muscular arm.

"What's bothering me?! Take a look around!"

Why in the world was I saying this? I was blowing my own chances. _Stop being such an ass, _I told myself. _She'll never love you again if you keep this up._

A feeling of warmth suddenly flooded through me. Her hand was on my back, rubbing gentle, soothing circles. My heartbeat probably tripled.

"Say that you love me, even if it isn't true," I said softly. To this day, I still don't know what came over me and persuaded me to say that, but it helped me make my move. "I know you probably hate me because of the past. But please let go of that. Give me another chance. I was stupid, selfish, and drowning in my own pride. We broke up because of the side of me that I usually never let people see. I have no excuses for the way that I was. I was just young, and I didn't know what I was doing. Please, just leave everything behind while you still can."

She said nothing and just stared up into my eyes. I still didn't feel like I had gotten my point across.

"Shirin, I _know_ how stupid I was," I whispered, not even noticing how close we were now. "But even though I know the end, I would do it all again if I could. I had a lifetime in while you loved me...kissing you was like being born a second time. Leaving you was like dying inside. I lived while you loved me."

A deathly silence followed. We just stared into each other's eyes. It was intoxicating. Literally intoxicating. My throat felt tight and my heart was beating so loudly I was afraid she could hear it. Unbidden, we moved even closer to each other. I didn't notice what was happening.

"Daro, I love Malak with all of my heart," she whispered. We were now so, so close. "He helped me move on from you, which, at the time, seemed impossible. He healed the wound in my heart; he pulled me out of something I never could have gotten out of myself. He's a truly amazing person…smart, brave, handsome, strong…but as much as I love him…he'll never be… you."

I tried not to show _all _the confusion on my face when she said that, because honestly, what kind of brainless woman would want _me_ instead of Malak Gorgeously-Perfect-Man Kenobi?

I guess she caught the complete and total confusion written all over my face, so she smiled and said, "Don't look so surprised. There are some things I find in you that I could never find in Malak. Or in anyone else. He helped me move on but…he didn't make me forget. There's something about you that just makes you impossible to forget. Even with someone as… 'perfect' as Malak."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

She paused and took a deep breath. "So even if Malak hates you…even if you don't believe me when I say this…all this time I have and still do truly..._deeply_...love you."

Her eyes slowly closed, and she leaned inward as her soft, delicate lips found their way to mine, her hands creeping up my body and wrapping around my neck. My hands, controlled by a mind of their own, slipped down to the small of her waist and pressed her close against me. I inhaled the familiar scent, welcomed it, and let it take control of me.

The kisses started out soft, gentle, and expressive, but they became more and more passionate as the minutes passed. She reached up and ran her hands through my short, dark hair, driving me absolutely wild with the gesture. She tasted so soft and sweet, like something every man dreams of (yes, even at age eighteen).

This…_reunion_ was everything I had been dreaming of for the longest time, and what should have felt _so_ wrong – couldn't have felt more right.

We paused for a moment to catch our breath, and we exchanged smiles. She laughed, and the mischievous look in those chocolate eyes told me that this was only the beginning.

The velvety tip of my nose rubbed against hers, and my lips moved back down and found hers again, my hands caressing her back and pressing her even closer against me. I couldn't possibly go any higher.

I wish it had never ended. But unfortunately, it did. And in the worst way possible, too.

At first, we heard the heavy footsteps, but we remained undaunted and continued our passionate display. It wasn't until we heard Malak's voice that we stopped.

"Shirin, have you seen my – "

He gasped.

I turned around, but I didn't remove my hands from her waist.

Malak's face grew red hot with rage. He clenched his fists, azure eyes narrowed to slits.

"I should have known!" he exploded. "I should have known that this bastard was that old boyfriend of yours!"

Shirin ripped herself away from my grasp and ran over to him, trying to hold him and calm him down.

"Malak, please…this isn't what you think…"

He pushed her away, but she ran after him and tried to calm him down again. The attempt once again proved futile.

"STOP!" he roared. "I should have known that you still had feelings for that trash!"

"Malak – "

He pushed her into the ground violently.

"YOU!" he screamed, turning to me. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?! You can't just take her from me! You can't turn her against me!"

"You have done that yourself!" I barked back bravely.

You know, I had always sensed a little bit of darkness in Malak. Sometimes he kept it at bay. Other times it was apparent. But now, it was swallowing him whole. These feelings were justified when Malak lifted up one arm, gave me a death stare, and used some freaky Force power on me.

My hand, not controlled by me, slipped up and wrapped around my throat, and I began to strangle myself.

Breathing soon became next to impossible. My vision began to blur, and I knew Shirin was screaming at him to stop, but I couldn't hear it.

Suddenly, something made him stop, and he threw me into the wall. He yelled something at Shirin and stomped off angrily. I could just barely hear him screaming.

I didn't even bother getting up. Shirin rushed over to me, asking if I was okay and then helping me up.

My head was throbbing, but my anger helped me push through it. I walked off, ignoring Shirin yelling after me and following the muddy bootprints on the floor. I needed to find Malak. I needed to settle the score. I needed to teach him a lesson. He had gone too far. He was in for an ass-kicking.

He didn't know me. He didn't know what I was capable of. But he was about to learn.

* * *

***This chapter was inspired by the Rascal Flatts song "While You Loved Me". It's a good song...please listen to it...please...***

** \- The Max**


	4. The Price of Passion

_**"We don't need...Anything...Or anyone." - **_**Snow Patrol, "_Chasing Cars"_**

* * *

**Chapter 3:**

**The Price of Passion**

Just as I was rounding a corner and leaving behind a bawling Shirin, my sight began to fog up, and I slipped into a vision.

Dark storm clouds hung overhead. Lightening cut through the air like an over-sharpened knife and thunder rattled the ground. Malak pulled himself over the shattered remains of a stone building and walked over to the jagged edge of an enormous broken stone bridge. He stood there and stared down into the bottomless abyss as tears began to stream down his cheeks. He cursed under his breath and reached down to pick up one of the small pebbles by his feet. With a furious howl, he chucked the rock into the abyss and watched it sink into the never-ending darkness.

The vision faded away.

I blinked furiously as I returned to the normal world. _So he is at the Ruins,_ I thought. _The perfect place for a fight._

And a fight I wasn't planning on losing, either.

* * *

As I pulled myself up over one of the remnants, Malak's back as well as the broken bridge came into view. I could hear him crying and see his body shaking. It felt good to know that _I _had made Malak Horan Kenobi, of all people, cry.

I waited for him to sense my Force aura and turn around. When he did, the first thing I noticed in his glassy eyes other than the pure hatred was a red ring around his normal blue-gray eyes – a ring of the darkside.

"You're going to pay," he growled. "_With your life_."

It was hard to take him seriously when he was crying. He sounded so…juvenile and whiney.

The red ring's significance suddenly hit me. "_I KNEW YOU WERE EVIL!_" I screamed, suddenly forgetting about what had brought me here. If he was evil, that was even more of a legitimate excuse that I needed to make sure he didn't live to see another sunrise.

Malak looked taken aback, but he did not bother denying anything like I expected him to.

"Oh, you're mad?" he said hotly. "Well, come at me! Let's see what _Shirin_ says about you killing me! You want to get rid of _me_ so that you can have her all to yourself! Well, take a hint bastard - whether you kill me or not, she will never, and I mean _ever_, love you! GET OVER IT! YOU…HAVE…LOST!"

I let out a growl as my face grew hot with anger. Driven forward by every ounce of the rage that was now consuming my body, I charged at him and grabbed him by the neck. He did the same to me.

I could feel his hot, short breath on my face, and surely he was feeling mine as we grappled with each other and tried to break free.

"Let's finish this like men, Malak," I snarled. (Food for thought: we were on the _edge_ of the bridge.)

"Do it!" he retorted. "Don't be afraid to kill me! Just wait and see how your _girl_ takes it!"

He was funny. He thought he could scare me out of mangling him.

I felt a surge of compulsory anger. I kneed him in a place I really wish I hadn't, and his hands went a bit slack on me as he doubled over in pain. I took advantage of the moment and, relying on my anger for my strength, _pulled us over the edge of the bridge_. (A bit drastic, I know. But what can I say? Anger makes me do crazy things.)

Down we plummeted, straight into darkness, still holding on to each other. I was pretty sure I was on top, so I began to violently slam him into the rock foundation of the bridge, still keeping a choke hold on his neck. He was kicking at me and trying to punch me, and he actually got me a couple of times and it hurt like crazy, but the more he swung at me, the harder I slammed. I was so focused on mauling him and letting out all of my anger that I didn't even scream once. Malak, on the other hand, was screaming, or at least he was _trying_ to, but I guess the screams never made it out.

I could feel him weakening – his punches were slowing, and more and more of his blood was spilling upward onto my body. I gave one final slam that I released all my anger, past and present, into, and then we hit the bottom.

We went flying in opposite directions - he quite literally flew, and I slid on the floor.

I didn't get up or even open my eyes. Every part of my body hurt like hell, and the back of my head was throbbing again. I knew I had maybe a couple of bruises and a gash or two, but I felt like every bone in my body was broken. I knew they weren't, but I couldn't help thinking about it.

I weakly touched a hand to my face, which was very sticky and covered in blood that was not my own. I was covered in his blood. _Great_.

I kind of just wanted to lie there and die. I mean, the chances of our bodies being found were little to none, and it would take a while to regain enough energy to stand up and find my way out. At that point, death just seemed like the more convenient option. I figured it was coming pretty soon, anyway. If the festering wounds didn't take me first, then Malak probably would've –

_Malak_. The name hit me like a brick wall.

I immediately regained my strength and jumped up, pulling my blaster into my hand and whipping around all in one swift motion. I had expected to see Malak, bloody and half-alive, waiting behind me with his lightsaber already in hand and ready to decapitate me.

But no.

Instead, I saw him lying completely still in a pool of his own blood, and he was maybe thirty feet or so away.

_Careful_, I told myself. _It could be a trick._

I slowly walked towards him with the gun pointed out in front of me. As I got closer, I realized how much blood was splattered all over the ground. I slowly tilted my head down to get an eyeful, and I immediately wished I hadn't. It was bad. And I mean_ bad_.

_I killed him_, I thought, swallowing extremely hard. _I killed him._

"What have I done?" I whispered as I knelt down and my common sense suddenly returned to me. What _had_ I done? I had done something awful and unforgivable. And all it took was really seeing him dead to realize that.

I began to breathe really hard, and there were tears stinging the back of my eyes as I put the gun back into its holster. I had been tempted to pull the trigger, just to make sure that he really was dead, but I just couldn't bring myself to do so. I had already done enough damage.

I got up and turned around, letting the tears break free of the dam at the back of my eyes. _What have I done?_ I asked myself again. I had just _killed _someone! Evil or not, I had just murdered a person! How would I be able to live with myself knowing that I had just taken the life of another person over something so trivial? Why had I let my anger get the best of me? What would Quinlan say? What would _Shirin _say? Why in the goddammed world had I done this?!

I covered my face with my hand and sat down, all of my questions still unanswered and destined to remain that way until the end of time. I pulled my knees up to my chest and then buried my face into them, crying openly.

* * *

It took me a really long time to figure out how to get back.

Now I _really_ wanted to leave. I didn't want to deal with Quinlan, and _definitely _not Shirin. But when I got back, Quinlan was the first thing I saw.

"Hey, Daro!" he said cheerfully. He looked like he had just taken a bath. Either that or he had gone for a swim. "Where've you been?"

I didn't say anything and just kind of stared down at my feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "You don't look so good. I think you should lie down, take a bath, maybe get some rest…"

I walked around him and gave him a reassuring little pat on the shoulder.

I started off towards my sleeping quarters, already making plans to go in and hide under the covers in the dark until I died or the authorities took me to prison for committing homicide. I was just coming around the corner when I bumped into the last person I wanted to see: _Shirin_.

"Daro?" she asked gently. She looked a bit worried. "Where's Malak?"

She looked around, as if she was expecting to see him somewhere behind me. When she realized that there was nothing to see, she refocused her attention to my bloody face and tattered, blood-stained clothing. And she needed no explanation.

"No…" she said, her voice cracking and her breathing hardening. "You didn't... you _wouldn't_ …." Tears were forming in her eyes.

"Shirin…"I breathed softly, putting a hand on her back, "I…I'm _sorry_…I just…he – "

She pushed me aside as tears flew from her eyes like bombs from a cannon. She rushed over to the edge of the open-air hallway and griped the hand railings tightly as sobs escaped her mouth.

"I…have…to…find him…" she managed between sobs as she stared off into the stormy sky. I knew she wasn't talking to me.

She turned around and rushed in the opposite direction, pushing me into the wall in her haste to leave.

Wow. I had just won her back and then broken her heart again. Now she _really_ hated me. Just another reason for me to be depressed.

Tears poured down my face as I made a beeline for my quarters. I didn't even bother to turn the lights on and dove straight into my bed, not caring at all that my clothing would stain the sheets. I buried my head under the pillow and just screamed as loud as humanly possible. Then I pulled the covers over myself, curled up into a ball, and cried until it hurt.


	5. A Long War Finally Lost

**_"I don't quite know...how to say...how I feel." - _Snow Patrol, "_Chasing Cars"_**

* * *

**Chapter Four: **

**A Long War Finally Lost**

I was still shaking about an hour and a half later.

I poked my head up from underneath the covers and gasped for air, covering my eyes with my hands as I did so.

"I am a despicable human being," I moaned. And it was very, very true. All the people that I had somehow managed to surround myself with now hated me with an unbecoming passion. Shirin hated me. Quinlan would hate me. Malak _had_ hated me.

And it was no longer simply just the guilt of killing Malak eating away at me; the horrible feeling of knowing that I had just broken Shirin's heart _again_ after working so hard and risking so much to get it back was now joining in on the fun. Quite frankly, I don't know which one was troubling me more.

I began to wonder if she knew that he was...evil. As that swirled around my head a few more times, I suddenly made sense of the resignation. It was amazing how quickly the truth hit me: What he had wanted people to believe was that he had left the Order because he had fallen in love. He wanted people to view his resignation as noble and passionate. What they didn't realize was that okay, yes- he _was_ in love with someone, but he had used that to his advantage and used it as a cover-up for the fact that he had switched allegiances! Right under their noses! And most of the Jedi were too fond of him to even _consider_ the alternative!

Those telekinetic Jedi fools claimed to be able to see and know everything. Well, _apparently_ not, because all this lying scumbag had to do to dupe them was act all innocent and play his reputation like a loser's ace in the hole.

That man was _such _a slimy, low-lying piss-off, I swear.

(Now, don't take my realization the wrong way- I still felt plenty guilty. I would feel guilty regardless of his allegiance. The realization just brought me to see the situation in a whole new light is all.)

I rubbed at my face tiredly. I had wanted to get up out of bed for a while, but I was practically stuck to the bed and could barely move. So much for taking a shower.

I pulled the sheets up over my head, and as I did so, my vision began to fog up for the second time that day. I swore under my breath. I knew what was coming, and I really didn't think I was ready for it.

* * *

There was the low rumble of thunder in the distance. The sky was grey and dismal and hung so low to the ground that the top of the trees seemed to be touching it. In this particular location, there was an open gravel road with lush foliage on either side of it, and there was something very bloody lying in the middle of it. As the vision began to clear up, the figure's auburn features soon became highly recognizable: it was definitely _Malak_.

His shirt was gone completely, and his leaking blood was slowly but surely turning the white gravel dark red. He dragged himself forward with a weak moan and then closed his eyes and just lied there like a dead fish.

And then, somehow, almost magically, Shirin was standing at the other end of the road.

"Malak!" she screamed, sprinting over to the bloodied man lying in the middle of the road. She sat down next to him and lifted him onto her lap, cradling as much of him as she could in her arms. She stroked his hair and pushed it out of his face as he very, very weakly opened his eyes. And they had returned to their normal blue-gray color.

"Shirin?" It was a hushed whisper.

She nodded and kissed the back of his hand.

"Shirin?" he repeated softly.

"Oh, Malak...I'm so sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry for everything that happened with Daro. I...I don't know what got into me...I'm so, so sorry..."

And then, as if on cue, it began to rain.

She continued her gentle stroking motions, pulling him closer to her, and whether it was in an attempt to keep him warm or alive, I can't tell you. Tears began to fall from her eyes as she placed soft, loving kisses on his forehead and pulled him even closer to her. She didn't seem to notice what I did: the hand she wasn't holding was slowly reaching into a back pocket and pulling something out.

He looked like his breathing was quickening.

"Shirin," he said softly as she moved him ever so slightly, just enough for him to be comfortable. He pulled his bloody hand out of hers and reached up to wipe her tears. "Can I-"

"You're shaking," she interjected. "Are you cold?"

He shook his head, breathing in even deeper than he had before.

"Shirin...this might seem like an inappropriate time to..." he paused and swallowed extremely hard before finishing his sentence. "To ask this...but...but..."

He stopped and sighed so deeply that she probably felt it.

"Shirin," he said slowly, this time at a volume that hid neither the shakiness nor the fear in his voice, "Will you...marry me?"

He pulled out the small black box that he had been hiding underneath himself and opened it, revealing a beautiful diamond ring. (How a Jedi found money to buy that as well as how it possibly survived the fight are both beyond me.)

He looked up at her with huge, pleading eyes, and he actually looked like he thought she would say no.

"Shirin?" he asked softly, anxiously.

She said nothing, her eyes brimming with tears once again, and kissed him hard on the lips.

* * *

I sat up abruptly.

I was so relieved that he wasn't dead. _He wasn't dead_. He wasn't dead! I laughed almost, you know, like that 'Yes! I did it!' laugh.

But then, I had _another_ realization moment- he had just asked Shirin for her hand in marriage. Yes, he was alive...and unfortunately Shirin's new husband as well.

My happiness died so quickly.

Now I had _really _lost. I had messed _myself_ up. I had gotten her back just to go and get in a fight and then lose her forever. I had lost her to the evil narcissistic Jedi. At that point, I think it was pretty safe to say that I was officially terrified of loving any woman ever again.

I grumbled quietly and rolled over (as much as I possibly could when I was stuck to the sheets). I knew he was going to rub it in my face from the second they got back. And if he didn't try to kill me that night, then they were both going to treat me horribly until the end of time.

"I hate my life," I sighed, burying my head under my pillow.

And then there was a sudden knock on my door.

"Death Row, next in line speaking," I said from under the pillow as the door slid open with a _whoosh_.

I sat up and looked at who had just entered, squinting because of the light, and was completely and utterly surprised to see Quinlan Jeshi staring back at me. He was wearing the most disheartened look on his face, and from that look, I knew he had just found out one of two things. I was hoping that it was the first thing I had in mind.

"He...he..._proposed_." The word 'proposed' was said as if it was a curse that would bring all future generations misery and woe.

So it _was_ the first thing. Good. Better he find out about that as opposed to number two.

"Oh, what are _you_ so upset about?" I snapped. "You were expecting it. At least _you_ had some kind of forewarning as to how this trainwreck would go down-"

"It's Shirin you're upset about," he interjected.

"Oh, shut up! Don't start with that!" I snapped. "You don't even know what happened!"

"But I do." There was such a childlike innocence to the way he said it. "You love her."

I like how he said it in present tense.

"You have no proof," I countered darkly. I didn't want this kid thinking he could actually get into the most intimate part of my life.

"She commed me about an hour ago. When I asked her where you and Malak were a couple of hours ago, she told me that you guys had gotten into a fight. And that's all she said. I was confused as to why you guys would get into a fight. I mean, I know you guys don't really get along, but a physical fight? I thought about it for a while, and then some little light just went off in the back of my head. Everything suddenly made sense: you and her staring at each other when we got here -try not to be so surprised by the fact that I saw that- and Malak's screaming...there was only one explanation."

I had forgotten how smart this kid really was.

I expected him to leave after that, but he didn't. Instead, he actually walked over to the edge of my bed and sat down.

"Leave, Quinlan," I said, and it came out muffled because my face was shoved into the pillow. "You're probably not supposed to be talking to me, anyway."

I couldn't see it, but I knew Quinlan Jeshi well enough to know that he was cocking his head to the side and raising one eyebrow like he always did when he was confused.

"What do you mean, Daro?"

"Oh, I guess Malak hasn't _commanded_ you to hate me yet."

"Malak? Malak's floating in a bacta tank at the nearest medical facility, how could he 'command' anything?"

"He'd find a way, trust me. As long as it involves as many people turned against me as possible."

"You make him sound like a horrible person."

"Because he is!" I cried vehemently, sitting up now. "He's a conniving, narcissistic asshole who-"

I stopped dead. I knew I wasn't the one to tell him that Malak had switched allegiances.

I was surprised when he didn't press me on any further. It was awkwardly silent, and I just couldn't find the right words to say. So what actually made it out was not exactly the best thing I could have said.

"I'm sorry, Quinlan," I said blankly.

"For what?"

It went without saying that he was trying to tell me that I was apologizing to the wrong person. But the person that I was really supposed to apologize to would be lucky if he even got a remorseful look out of me._ Apologizing_ to Malak seemed damn near impossible.

"Daro, I don't hate you," he said, standing up now. "You may think I do, but I don't. I'm not going to hold jealousy against you. It's only human. I'm not gonna be mad at you for that. And you didn't really kill him. That's all that matters. So if they want to be mad at you, who am I to stop them. But for me, what is there to be mad about? Even if they are and will be until the end of time, _I'm_ not mad at you."

"I understand," I grumbled.

"Then act like it."

And that was the last thing that was said before he got up and left.

* * *

I spent the next two days alone in my quarters, leaving only under the cover of darkness to get a can of Bleeding Phantom out of my starship. And everyone left me alone. It was as if they knew not to bother me. And I honestly can't tell you if I thought it was great or terrible. I really don't know.

And then, on the third day, Quinlan came into my quarters and woke me up at the very crack of dawn. It really didn't help that I had stayed up all night just staring at the wall and thinking, assuming that I would have all the time in the world to sleep during another day of seclusion.

When I asked him why the hell he was waking me up so early and why he was dressed so fancily, he responded only with, "I think you know why" and then left.

I groaned. Today was the _wedding_.

Did I _really_ have to go? I hadn't spoken to either one of them in the past two days and I _really_ wasn't about to start.

And then there was an obnoxiously loud pounding on my door, a pounding so hard that everything on the walls shook and shuttered.

"_WAKE UP!_" Malak screamed.

At that, I grabbed an empty can of Bleeding Phantom, crushed it, shot out of bed like a rocket, opened the door, and chucked it down the hallway. It hit him square in the head, and the towel he had wrapped around his waste fell to the ground. I slipped back inside and locked the door as fast as humanly possible, because trust me, angry, naked Malak is not something you want coming after you. Especially when you think he's out to get you.

I stayed in bed until Quinlan literally came and dragged me out, and then I even made him take my clothes out of my suitcase for me, just to show him that I wasn't in the mood. And he kept saying things like, "Do I look like I care?" or "Well, too bad.". So I guess he was in a bad mood, too.

* * *

The ceremony was awful.

I think that goes without saying.

It was easily the worst twenty-five minutes of my life. So go ahead and roll your eyes at me; I don't mind. But _you_ try watching the person _you're_ in love with marry _your_ mortal enemy, and _then_ we'll talk.

And it was bad enough that I was stuck wearing stiff pants, a hard shirt, a choker that was _way_ too tight on me, and the stiffest jacket ever known to mankind in ninety-something degree weather. I was sweating like a pig, but I looked completely dry in comparison to Quinlan, who was dressed head to toe in black leather. The both of us were equally tempted to jump the balcony railing and take off towards that lake, leaving a trail of clothes behind us as we went. It was _extremely_ tempting, let me tell you. I think if it was anything else, we would have done it, but you just don't do that at a wedding. At least not when you're afraid that the groom will kill you if you so much as _breathe_ wrong.

Shirin looked beautiful. It was a simple dress, nothing _too _fancy, but it captured every flawless curve of her body perfectly none the less. Even _Quinlan's_ jaw dropped when he saw her.

And Malak -as much as I hated him- looked perfect. Not a single strand of auburn hair was out of place, and that obnoxious beard of his was perfectly trimmed around his lips. His suit hugged his body better than anything else I had ever seen him wear, and for once, you could tell that he had muscle without him having to take any clothes off.

When the ceremony finally started, Quinlan and I had already been standing there waiting for thirty minutes. We were there at the time he told us to be there. I don't know how I didn't manage to figure out that it was a trick.

By that time, Quinlan and I looked like we had taken showers. They just needed to hurry up and get married, because this whole formalities thing for four people just _wasn't_ working. That minister looked like he was Quinlan's age (maybe even younger), but _man_ that kid could talk.

He started with, "We are gathered here today to join Malak Horan Kenobi and Shirin Shang in Matrimony. If there are any objections, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

Everyone, even the minister, had their eyes on me at that point. I looked uncomfortable, I know I did. And it didn't help that Malak was giving me the Evil Eye the whole time, like he was saying, _'Don't you ruin this for me. You open your trap and you'll be sorry.' _

And then, as if to heighten the temptation, Quinlan leaned over to me and whispered, "There's your shovel. Start digging your hole!"

I can't even _begin_ to tell you how tempted I was to object. _'Don't do it,'_ I told myself. _'Don't object, that's selfish.'_ I actually had to bite down on my tongue to avoid saying anything.

So I decided to forever hold my peace.

"Okay, then," the kid said. "I guess not."

Just when I thought we had gotten past the worst part, I was proved very, very wrong, because there was an entire introductory dissertation and everything. I _know_ it's tradition to give the long dissertations about love or whatever at weddings, but for four people, especially when two of which are about to keel over and die of heat stroke, does it really matter?

To be honest, I tried hard _not _to pay attention to the rest of the ceremony, which isn't difficult when you're kicking yourself for making the most regrettable decision of your life. But the kid roped me back in when he brought up the vows.

You would think that here is where I would try to zone out. I tried, but that was pretty damn near impossible.

Quinlan shot me a worried look, as if he knew that this wasn't going to end well for me. And if that was what he was thinking, he was right- they hadn't said anything and I could already feel the anger brewing. I dug my nails into my pants in an attempt to keep myself from doing something I would regret.

Somehow, I don't know how, but my head actually _turned_ to watch the last bloody portion of it. It went down something like this:

The boy turned another page in his book and looked to Malak, whose back was not to me.

I tried to slow my breathing. Impossible.

"Do you, Malak Horan Kenobi, take Shirin Shang to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the boy asked smoothly, like he had done this five hundred thousand times before, which he probably had.

Malak smiled at Shirin and shot me a malicious look that only I caught. I mouthed something nasty to him, and he mouthed back, "I know" before returning his focus to Shirin. He smiled at her again, a perfect, pearly-white smile, and then said, "I do.".

The boy nodded and then turned to Shirin.

"And do you, Shirin Shang, take Malak Horan Kenobi to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Shirin returned Malak's smile.

"I do."

My face lost all color. My stomach was getting all in a knot, and an enormous lump was forming in my throat.

"Then, by the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife," the boy said, closing his book and stepping back.

Malak and Shirin smiled at each other, and that basically made me want to puke my guts out. They moved closer, their hands still linked, and then kissed passionately.

I let out a low growl (I kid you not) and then stomped off to my quarters as quickly as I could. No one needed to see me as flustered as I was then. Especially not anyone there.

When I got in, I didn't turn on the lights or even take my clothes off. I just flopped down onto the bed with my face shoved into the mattress. I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I just lied there. Defeated. Lifeless. Hoping everything was just some horrible nightmare that I was going to wake up from any minute. It was like someone had sucked my very soul out of my body.

I just lied there in the darkness for something like three hours. Maybe even four. Just as I was about to finally get out of bed and change my clothes, Quinlan came into my room. Of course. I had made the idiot mistake of leaving the door unlocked.

"Daro?" he asked softly.

I lifted my head up in response.

"Malak says that you should probably-"

"Malak?" I cut in. It was the first time I had said his name in a long, long time, and it felt like the most unspeakable curse on my lips. "Malak should piss fire for a week, that's what he should do instead of telling me how to live my life and barking orders all the time."

Quinlan cocked an eyebrow at me.

"Daro, I understand that you're upset. I am, too. Look: we both lost someone we care about today, okay? But you don't see _me_ beating myself up over it, do you? You just have to accept reality and let go of everything that you lost today. You and Shirin obviously weren't meant to be, and you can't change that. That's just the way things are. You just have to accept that. There's no use in dwelling on something that's over and you can't change. Attachment only leads to jealousy."

I wanted to tell him to stop throwing his Jedi Code crap at me, but I didn't. He was actually right. I guess there really was no use in being sorry for myself and I should have just tried to accept it.

But let me tell you, there's a big difference between what you should do and what's easier to do. And refusing to accept the truth and wallowing in self-pity instead was a hell of a lot easier.

"He wants you to take me back to Coruscant now," Quinlan said, and I could tell that he had changed the phrasing of what he had originally intended to say when he came into my room. A classic Jedi trick: changing the phrasing to better suit the person you're asking the favor of so that they do it. _He_ _wants_ is different from _he's making you._

"Come on, Daro," he continued. "Maybe a couple hours away from here is what you need to clear your head."

I sighed. He was right. _Again_.

"Dammit, Quinlan!" I said as I sat up and covered my face with my hands. "Why do you always have to be right, kid?"

He shrugged and smiled at me before saying, "Come on, let's go!" and taking off out of the room to go get his bags.

I pulled myself out of bed with a groan and then very unwillingly left the four comforting, confining walls of my quarters. I then proceeded to go find Quinlan, wherever he was, and then found him shortly thereafter, saying goodbye to Malak. I found them..._hugging_. And believe me, I _never_ thought I'd see the day when Malak Kenobi gave his apprentice a hug.

I just kind of stood there in the background and watched, waiting for them to finish their little display of affection. Needless to say, it was indescribably awkward. And it _really_ didn't help that Shirin was smiling at me the whole time, and when I tried to smile back, my ears just turned red. What else could I do but shoot her the most awkward, broken, pained-looking half-smile that was not even the slightest bit attractive?

When they _finally_ stopped hugging, they both exchanged "good luck"s , and then Quinlan said something about kids, and Malak just laughed and said, "Oh, don't worry. I will."

Quinlan smiled and turned to Shirin, bending over slightly and kissing her hand.

"Goodbye, Shirin," he said softly. "It has been a pleasure getting to know you."

"You too, Quinlan," she said kindly, and they both smiled at each other. Even _I_ could see him blushing.

I was pretty much at my breaking point now, so I swept in and tapped him on the shoulder to signal to him that it was time to leave. And neither Malak nor Shirin acknowledged my presence. That didn't really surprise me.

I turned Quinlan around and guided him in the direction of my starship. The young Jedi turned and waved to his old master one final time, and Malak smiled and waved back before putting his arm around his-dare I say it- _wife_.

I stalked up the ramp of my ship, and he sprinted up past me and disappeared into the back to go put his bags down. I took my place in the pilot's seat and stared down at Malak and Shirin through the viewport. Malak was bending down slightly and kissing her hand, just as his apprentice had done only minutes before, and was telling her something that was making the both of them smile and laugh. And it didn't exactly take a navy code cracker to figure out that he was asking her if he could have the first dance.

It was at that moment that Quinlan finally came back and sat down next to me in the co-pilot's seat. I sighed and rubbed at my face tiredly as I hit the ignition and watched Malak and Shirin walk away.

"What's wrong?" Quinlan asked.

I responded without even looking at him, barely aware of the fact the my lips were even moving.

"I hope we crash."


	6. Moving On

**A/N: To answer ErinKenobi2893's review: Yes. It is all an intro to a bigger story. _HOWEVER_...the person who steals baby Obi-Wan is yet to be introduced...*EVIL LAUGH EVIL LAUGH EVIL LAUGH***

* * *

_**"Those three words...are said too much... they're not enough..." -**_**Snow Patrol, _"Chasing Cars"_**

* * *

**Chapter Five: **

**Moving On**

It didn't take very long to get to Coruscant and come back. And I didn't really feel any better, because being alone for two hours on the way back made thinking about everything that happened pretty much inevitable.

The sun was already setting by the time I got back. I parked the ship, grabbed a can of Bleeding Phantom, and then just went to sit out on the ramp for a while. The view from there really took my breath away, let me tell you. I mean, talk about a sunset- the sky was all these different shades of purple and red that merged together perfectly. It looked like some crazy artist had just taken all of his chalks out of the box and scribbled madly across the sky. The sun was just this huge fiery ball in the sky, and the lake glistened with its fading light. And it was so quiet. But not that deathly, depressing, consoling kind of silent; it was a peaceful kind of silent, like when you put your head on your pillow after a perfect day and think about just how perfect the day really was.

I leaned back on my hands and sighed. I had been doing a lot of thinking on that return trip, and I had realized things that I didn't want to realize. I guess that's why I didn't feel so great then- not only had I forced myself to think things I didn't want to think, but I was now thinking them again.

You see, I came to this..."shocking" realization that maybe I didn't really deserve Shirin at this point. Regardless of what had really happened, who or what the person was, or how horribly they treated me, I had tried to kill someone out of jealousy.

Wow. It hit me for the first time just how extreme that really was. I had tried to kill someone because I wanted his girlfriend, who I had completely and totally dumped years before. A person like Shirin really didn't deserve someone who was dumb and reckless enough to do something like that.

And I realized that Quinlan was right: there was no use in just wallowing in self-pity and cutting myself off from the rest of humanity. If anything, that would just make it worse. The fact that I couldn't have Shirin was completely and totally my fault. It was no one else's. If I hadn't broken up with her years before, I wouldn't have tried to woo her back, Malak wouldn't have caught us, I wouldn't have tried to kill him, they wouldn't have gotten married, and then I wouldn't be in this mess. But I _had_ made that dumb choice, and now I had to live with it. That was that. No use in being sorry for myself, because it wouldn't change anything. Malak would still treat me like dirt, Quinlan would still be masterless and depressed, Shirin would still be uncomfortable around me, and I would still want her badly but never be able to have her.

It's amazing how just one small choice can completely transform you, define you, or destroy you.

I decided right then and there that I was done with my hiding and my wallowing. It was pointless. Everything was just the way that it was. I didn't deserve Shirin, but I would still want her. I felt bad for Quinlan, but I couldn't help him, even if his abandonment was partially my fault. I didn't like Malak, but I would still have to put up with him and his obnoxious mentality that he was the Force's gift to women. That and the fact that he had just married the person I wanted and would probably never even tell her who he really was.

But none of that mattered. All that did was that I was finally moving on and finally content with a past I regretted.

* * *

I didn't lose sleep that night. I drifted off relatively quickly, and I actually felt well-rested the next morning. So that was a major improvement.

And I wasn't even tempted to stay in bed all day. I dare say I had gotten bored of those four confining walls that had somehow managed to bring me so much comfort during the past couple of days.

I left my room (without looking both ways beforehand to make sure that no one was coming) and then just casually and not at all sneakily went to the bathroom to wash my face. As I studied myself in the mirror, I realized that my eyes weren't stormy anymore and I didn't look like an insomniac. For once I felt and looked...okay. I felt like someone had just lifted this enormous weight off of my shoulders.

But before I could actually wash my face, I slipped into a vision and passed out with half of my face dipped in the overflowing sink. It was the one where Quinlan found out about Malak and Shirin, and it actually made me feel really bad for him (Quinlan, I mean. Not Malak. Definitely not Malak.). I know how much more things can hurt when they're surprises.

When I woke up I don't know how much later, I was on the floor with a towel thrown over my face. I ripped it off and sat up, still a little confused as to how that happened. And when I sat up and naturally looked at the area directly ahead of me (in this case, it was the shower area), I was mortified to see very surprised, very _naked_ Malak and Shirin staring back at me through the glass.

It was embarrassing how loudly Malak and I screamed.

He started cussing me out, but I didn't really hear all too much of it because I was _way_ too busy getting the hell out of there and trying to erase the images from my mind.

I ran all the way back to my quarters in a bit of a spooked daze. That was probably the third worst thing I've ever seen. (Numbers one and two will be coming up shortly, so stand by.) I shut the door behind me and then slumped against it as I tried to catch my breath. No man, regardless of his age, should _ever_ have to see his mortal enemy and his ex-girlfriend showering together. That's just more than anyone in their right mind can handle.

After I had regained most of my breath, I pulled the curtains off of the window doors on the left wall and then went out to stand on the balcony. It was a gorgeous view from out there, let me tell you. I regretted not going out there when I was more stressed out- that view of the lake under the rising sun could have soothed even the most angst-ridden person. The air was still cool, and the soft sunlight that hit my face left me feeling a bit more relaxed than I had been a day or two ago.

The door behind me suddenly creaked open, but I didn't turn around. I already knew who it was and I didn't really want them to see my reaction.

Sweet, floral-scented perfume soon hung in the air around me, and there was a soft, delicate hand rubbing gentle circles on my back.

"Are you…okay?" Shirin asked softly.

I sighed and turned to face her.

"Despite all the ghosts I've dealt with and all the demons I've faced, yeah, I guess so."

I turned away immediately, because she looked even more gorgeous than usual in that light, and, being alone with her right outside my bedroom, I was tempted to do something that felt wrong just _thinking_ about. And you'd be surprised how much not looking at her helped fight the temptation.

"If you want to be left alone, just say so," she said softly. "I understand if you're still upset -"

"No. No, I'm not upset," I said quietly, turning back to face her and trying hard not to put my hands anywhere on her body.

"Oh. Well, that's good, then."

"Yeah."

Her hand was now off my back and moving towards my arm.

"You can finally go home today," she said, giving me a perfect smile that made my heartbeat quadruple. And that got me wondering exactly why I hadn't already left.

"My dad confirmed that our new house is finally ready. Sorry we made you wait so long, but then with the wedding and whatnot-"

"It's fine," I said nonchalantly. "No big deal."

_That_ was why I hadn't left yet. It kind of came as a surprise to me, but I'm sure someone told me that and it just went in one ear and out the other.

I closed my eyes and sighed heavily. I kind of felt like I owed Shirin an apology, and now was when I decided to take my shot in the dark.

"Look, Shirin- I just want to apologize for everything that happened here. I caused a lot of trouble and I really didn't mean to. And I'm sorry for always acting so stupid around you. I walked out on you, and that was dumb. I know that. I seduced you and got you in trouble with Malak, and that was even dumber. I don't know why I did it. I guess I just thought that if I couldn't have you, no one else could, either. I got this stupid idea that maybe you could love me again, despite the fact that I broke your heart and that you have a new significant other."

"Daro, even after someone breaks our hearts, we tend to keep loving them with every broken piece of it. I really can't blame you for thinking that."

She was standing really close to me now, and for some reason, I saw it as permission to put my hands on her hips. She didn't pull away like I expected her to.

"I'm sorry if _I've_ caused you any trouble," she said as her hand went under my shirt and she felt the muscles underneath it. My heart was beating so quickly I thought it might stop.

Why was she doing this to me? And why was I doing this to her?

"And I'd also like to apologize on Malak's behalf," she added quietly. "He's still learning to 'control his emotions'."

Oh yeah. So that's what he called being evil.

We were really, _really_ close now. I felt like I was reliving that day out in the hallway when we were standing this close. And that reminded me of what I really felt like I needed her to know.

"I know he wouldn't like seeing us this close," I whispered. "And Shirin, I don't know if it's everything that's happened between us or the fact that Malak might as well just strut through that very doorway right now and kill me, but I really, really, truly, _deeply_ love you. I know I don't deserve you after everything I've done to your husband. I recognize and take full responsibility for that. Someone like you deserves better than me, and even better than Malak. But me not being deserving of you doesn't mean that I'm going to stop wanting you."

She ran a hand through my hair.

"You're a sweet boy, Daro," she said softly. "Handsome, smart, understanding...as hard as it may be for you to believe, there are certain things about you that I know I could never find in Malak. And I know this isn't the sort of thing that a girl usually says to her ex-boyfriend, but I really wish I could have you. You just found me at the wrong time is all. If it wasn't for Malak, I don't think I would have rejected you. But we both know that I can't have you now. "

That's another thing I've always loved about Shirin. She could say something like that so gently and without seeming abrasive, and she was so forgiving and understanding. Nothing like her significant other.

"So I guess this is it, then," I whispered.

"I guess so," she whispered back. "But…before it's over…how about a little something to remember me by?"

And before I even knew what was happening, she reached up and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

Now, I couldn't feel me face reddening then, but I sure as hell could feel myself reddening when she moved down a bit and our lips-

Well, I don't have to tell you_ everything_.

* * *

A little while later, I was sitting around and waiting for Malak and Shirin near the staircase at the entrance, using my suitcase as a chair. When I finally saw them come around the corner, I groaned and rolled my eyes. They were acting all lovey-dovey and mushy, and, like I said before, "young and innocent" romance, especially between the two of them, just about kills my soul.

They were holding hands (I seemed to be the only one bothered by the fact that his hands were something like four times the size of hers), and he was telling her something that was apparently just _so_ funny, so funny that she had to stop and hug him and run her hands all over that obnoxious beard of his, all while giggling uncontrollably.

And then they just started snogging like nobody's business.

This is kind of a weird observation, but Malak was actually a pretty lousy kisser. Not exactly what I expected out of a guy who looked and acted like he could take any woman to the stars and back in bed.

When they finally stopped, he just ran his hand down the side of her face and said, "You're so beautiful.". She smiled up at him as one of her hands crept up under his poncho and she rubbed his taut, muscular stomach.

"You are, too."

"I know."

I hated him so much.

He laughed quietly, and then they started cuddling again. This was just _too_ much.

That preempted me to make a weird hacking noise and stick my tongue out in disapproval, and, of course, _that_ was when they chose to take notice of me.

"Oh, do you have a hairball?" Malak spat snootily, his arms still wrapped tightly around Shirin, who was leaning up against him with her hand still on his abs.

I said nothing and just glared at him. I was just so sick of him at that point that I decided not to throw him any lobs and just stay shut up. That was one of the scare tactics an admiral at Military Academy had taught me- if my memory serves, he had called it "Silent but Forceful".

I dare say "Silent but Forceful" worked, because he did look a bit surprised and even a little _disappointed_ when I didn't throw a nasty remark back at him. So thanks for that, Admiral Krenshaw.

Shirin whispered something to him, (it looked to me like, "Come on, let's go.") and he rolled his eyes before sighing and saying, "Oh, fine.".

He let go of her and then picked up his millions of bags, gesturing to her to link her arm with his. They walked over to where I was sitting, and then Malak dropped all his bags on the floor in front of me.

"Here. Take these on board, bastard," he barked domineeringly.

So it appeared as if I had a new nickname.

I just looked down at the bags and then back up at him with a face that said, _'You _really_ don't expect me to take your bags for you, do you?'_

He shot me an angry look.

"Do it," he snarled under his breath.

I just glared back at him again, which was a mistake, because I ended up taking a hand directly to the chest and getting slammed into the wall.

And with that, he whisked Shirin away and left me alone with all his crap.

You know, it's kind of impossible to not hold a grudge when someone keeps treating you like that. And if you think he eventually stopped, you're dead wrong.

At that point, I figured there was no getting out of it, so I just picked up his ridiculously heavy bags and heaved them all onto the ship, two at a time. I was seriously tempted to just stop half-way and tell Malak, "I'm done with this. I'm nobody's pony boy." and then leave the rest of his junk lying around until he realized he needed to go get it himself. But I didn't, because after careful assessment, I guessed my life was worth more than not having sore arms the next day.

By the time I finished, I felt like my arms were going to fall off. Those bags were heavier the _second_ time he made me carry them, if that's even possible. (He made me do it when we got there, too, if you remember.)

It really didn't help that when I walked in, the first thing I saw was Malak sitting shirtless in a chair with Shirin on his lap.

Have I mentioned how much I hated that arrogant braggart?

"What took you so long?" Malak snapped as I dragged myself further into the ship.

Suddenly feeling emboldened by who knows what, I decided to answer him honestly.

"What am I? Your own personal bellhop?" I retorted. "Just be glad I brought your shit in, because I almost left it out there."

Malak looked like he could have kicked me into the next year, and I really think he would have had Shirin not been sitting on him. I was seriously convinced that he was afraid to hurt me in front of her. Probably because he thought she'd defend me, which she _might_ have done. I actually took advantage of that situation and tried to get my licks in.

"Oh, yeah, Malak?" I asked as I turned back to him, ready to really piss him off.

He lifted his head up in response.

"I don't know who the hell told you that you were the Force's gift to women, but whoever it was _obviously_ hasn't met many women."

There he _really_ looked like he could kill me.

I laughed at my own joke and then went to take my position in the cockpit.

The insult shoe was finally on the other foot and it fit _well, _let me tell you.

* * *

It took only an hour and a half to get to their new house, mainly because it was relatively close by. It was a tiny, slightly shabby-looking house in the middle of scenic nowhere, which kind of surprised me, because I remembered Shirin's parents being a bit more on the wealthy side. (I mean, wake up, people! They were the partial owners of a fricking _castle_, for crying out loud!) But I figured they probably wouldn't be living there long, anyway, because anybody who knew Malak Kenobi relatively well could make a more than reasonable hypothesis and estimate that Shirin would probably become pregnant sometime within the next month and a half to two months.

I went to tell them that we had arrived, and when I did, Malak immediately got up and started walking towards the ramp.

I sighed. I guessed I was on bag duty. _Again._

I was fairly surprised when Shirin stopped him a few seconds later and said, "Malak, baby, why don't _you_ get the bags and give poor Daro a break? He's worked a lot for you today."

I couldn't help but beam like a dunce. I was _beyond_ elated.

So how did the wise, powerful (evil) Jedi Malak Kenobi react to not getting what he wanted, you may ask? No, not with mind tricks or anything like that, no. He, Mr. Amazing Jedi Knight, had resorted to _looking cute._

He did look _really_ unhappy, and from the major pouty face he was giving Shirin, I kind of expected him to start whining and crying like a baby.

I could tell she kind of fell for it, but she surprised me when she said, "Malak, stop trying to look cute and go get the bags.".

His lower lip trembled, and then he just balled his fists up, stuffed them into his pockets, and stomped off to go get the bags.

When he walked past me, I made the dumb mistake of thanking him.

"Thanks-" I stifled a laugh, "_baby_."

I could barely get two laughs out before his fist hit me square in the jaw.

"Drama king," I grumbled as I rubbed at my jaw and watched him storm off.

Shirin and I watched Malak walk back and forth with his bags of rocks in silence. I wanted to make an occasional comment, but Malak was looking pretty mad to me, so I just decided to keep the flippant remarks to myself.

I will admit that in the time that I was alone with Shirin, I was extremely tempted to just start spewing everything I knew about Malak's switch of allegiance, but I decided not to in the end, for two specific reasons: One: I didn't want to have to worry about him tracking me down and then murdering me, and Two: I really wasn't the right person to tell her. I figured that if she was to know, Malak was really the only one to tell her.

When he finished, he went over to Shirin and collapsed in her arms. She rolled her eyes and yet smiled at the same time, giving him a few affectionate pats on the back.

"Come on, let's go," she said softly. "You can lie down in our nice new bed once you get inside."

He lifted his head up and gave her a tired yet very you-know-what-I-want-to-do-in-bed-with-you smile.

She caught his smile and laughed.

"Not yet, you," she giggled, giving him a kiss on the nose.

If you think I was getting slightly jealous here, that's good, because now I know that I've finally gotten through to you.

"Now, come on," she whispered gently to him, "let's go home."

He sighed and sat up.

"Let me go get my backpack," he said as he heaved himself up and shuffled off to where he had gotten all the other millions of bags from.

I watched him leave and then turned to Shirin.

"So then this is _really_ goodbye," I said softly.

"Yeah, that's what it looks like," she sighed, standing up and walking over to me.

"Shirin, again, I'm sorry for everything that happened-"

"Daro…"

Without another word, she stood on the tips of her toes and gave me a long, soft kiss on the cheek.

"It was nice seeing you again," she said with a smile. I guess that was what she had originally intended to say _before_ she decided to kiss me.

"You too," I said, and I felt like a complete and totally idiot because that was such a…_Malak_ answer.

"And if Malak ever gets on your nerves again, just remember what happened on that balcony this morning," she laughed. Only, I think she was serious.

We both laughed at that, and we laughed all the way up until when Malak came and ruined the moment. I guess he got upset when he saw us that close, because he walked right between us, pushed me into the wall, and kissed her hard on the lips right in front of me in an attempt to make me jealous. It was a successful attempt, of course, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing it. Instead, I decided to remind him about my pay check.

"Ummm…Malak? You remember a couple of days ago, when you said you would pay me for my troubles?"

Malak just gawked at me and then broke out into animal-like laughter.

"_Pay_ you?! HA! What have you been drinking?!"

He continued to laugh hysterically, and Shirin tried to shut him up by giving him a swift whack on the arm, but needless to say, that didn't really work.

"_Pay_ you?!" he repeated, as if it was the funniest thing he had ever heard. "Keep dreaming, bastard!"

So the nickname had stuck.

He then linked hands with Shirin, and they sauntered off board.

I sat back down in the pilot's seat and watched them disappear into their house through the viewport. I shifted around a bit and then sighed after getting comfortable, re-accounting all the craziness that had happened over the past five days. I was just glad that it was all over- the wallowing in pity, the wedding, the Malak- everything. I will admit that I _was_ kind of miffed that I would probably never see Shirin again, but I figured even if I did, she'd probably already have kids and have gotten over me, anyway.

I think that whole experience really made me realize just how much of a mystery girls really are. And a mystery I don't think I'll ever even come close to solving, either.

I shook my head tiredly. All that and he didn't even pay me.

What a slimy, low-lying piss off.


	7. Malak's Gift

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I'm so glad that you guys are finding my story interesting, my self-insertion (Daro) laugh-out-loud funny, and are hating Malak just as much as I do! This chapter takes place about five years after the last one, so Malak is twenty-five and Daro and Shirin are twenty-three. And now, the "Malak/Shirin romantic stuff", as promised...**

* * *

_**"If I lay here...if I just lay here...would you lie with me and just forget the world?" **_**-Snow Patrol, "Chasing Cars"**

* * *

**FIVE YEARS LATER...**

**Chapter Six: **

**Malak's "Gift"**

Everything I'm about to tell you became known to me _years_ later.

So, just as I had predicted, Malak never did tell Shirin that he had turned to the darkside. His cover-up for his constant disappearance was that he had a job, (multiple ones, actually) and they were a bit unpredictable, in the sense of him never knowing where the "bosses" were going to send him and for how long he was going to be gone. And get this: sometimes, he'd be gone for months on end, staying with the masters (yes, there were two of them), and she never even asked him one stinking question. And to really make it believable, he figured out a way to get money out of it. The masters would make him a list of things that they needed or wanted. When he finally returned home, he would find whatever was on the list and then take it back to them the next time he left. Depending on how many of the items he actually brought, they would take a small amount of money from a collective pool and give it to him. It was chump change, obviously, but two people living in a tiny house in the middle of nowhere really didn't need more than fifty Republic Dataries a month.

But that all changed one day, when Malak came up with the "genius" idea of having a baby. Shirin didn't exactly take to his idea with much enthusiasm, and she tried to convince him otherwise, but, as you may have expected, he had his own plan. He started saving more of the money as well as brining the demanding masters more valuable things in order to increase his pay. But even after their fortune had increased significantly, Shirin was still on the fence about it. Even then, Malak would beg her almost every day that they were together, doing everything from pulling the pouty face on her to trying to bribe her. I guess the constant nagging did get annoying, though, because she _did_ finally end up giving into him.

* * *

And now, allow me to tell you of the _second_ worst thing I've ever seen. Saying that calling it a nightmare is an understatement is an understatement. It was easily the worst vision I've ever had. I had it almost a year after it really happened, and I know that only because...well, you'll see.

It began with Malak, freshly bathed, stepping out of the bathroom wearing nothing but extremely tight underwear that accentuated his...lower region.

Believe me, I knew exactly what was going to happen from the second it started. And I have a feeling you do, too.

He walked into their bedroom and then climbed into bed, giving Shirin, who was only wearing a _thin_ night gown, that 'come and get it' smile.

Had I been conscious, I think I would have screamed.

Malak rolled over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Tomorrow marks the fifth year of our marriage," he breathed, refusing to break his stare. I suppose it was just another one of his stupid tricks.

She smiled.

"I can't believe it's been five years already."

He nodded as he turned to face her.

"Yes. But...I'm prepared to gift you with something a day earlier, if you'd like," he said smoothly, giving her the slyest, most mischievous smile I've ever seen.

She laughed.

"Really? What's that?"

"A night unlike any other," he whispered as his hand ran through her hair. "A night that could make the best impact on our lives."

Her smile faded.

"Malak, we've been over this," she whispered back. "I don't think we're ready for that kind of a responsibility yet...we're still too young. One day, I promise you, we will. But just not...now."

Malak pulled that damn pouty face on her _again_.

Let me just make sure I've made myself clear here: I hated him. I hated him. I hated him.

"_Shirin_," he whined, rather obnoxiously (but he did sound genuinely upset), "just the other day you were saying that it does get a little bit lonely sometimes!"

You could tell that his whining was her weakness just from the look on her face.

She sighed heavily and put a hand on his chest. I guess she was thinking that he was right.

"Shirin, we _need_ a little Kenobi," he said gently, and it kind of sounded like a laugh.

"I know we do," she whispered back.

I really never will understand women. One minute they're here, then the next they're there. Pretty confusing, if you ask me.

Malak just stared back at her with these huge, pleading puppy-dog eyes that I could tell she found impossible to resist. How was I able to tell, you may ask? Well, I think it was actually pretty obvious, because mere seconds after he pulled them on her, she rolled on top of him and they began kissing like it was the only thing that they knew how to do. Their every touch was a caress, and it just got worse and worse with each one. And that was the last thing I saw before the clothes came off.

I think I'm going to stop here. It pretty much went downhill from there...the next five and a half hours were _unbearable_, trust me. I'm really doing you a favor by not telling you, because it's really not something you need to know. I'll just leave the rest up to you to imagine.

But I will say this much: _regardless _of what you're picturing, the real thing was worse.

* * *

So let's fast-forward about four months to the morning of November the tenth. This was another (much less terrifying) vision I had, almost five months after it happened. Believe it or not, I had it on the same day as the one previously mentioned.

It was early in the morning, only a little while after sunrise. Shirin was the first of the two of them to wake up, but she didn't get out of bed. I guess she didn't want to wake Malak up.

She just lied in bed for a while, watching him sleep (creepy, I know) and occasionally pulling the blanket back up to his nose when it got too low on him. It wasn't long after the sixth time that she pulled the blanket up that his eyes slowly opened and he gave her a sleepy smile.

"Good morning, handsome," she said softly as he pulled her close to him and wrapped her tightly in his arms.

After about a minute of excessive cuddling, he loosened his grip on her and asked, "Shirin, do you feel...sick? You're kind of warm, and you don't look so good..."

"Sick?" she repeated. "How could I possibly feel sick when your handsome face is the first thing I see when I wake up in the morning?"

_Now_ I think I know why he was so arrogant. Also- _blah. Disgusting_.

He laughed softly and kissed the spot right in between her eyebrows.

"So..." she drawled, "twenty-five years ago today, somewhere on the planet of Mustafar..."

They both laughed at that, and I hated it when they laughed together, because A: synchronization is creepy, and B: it was just more of that "innocent and young" romance that you know I hate so much.

"Happy birthday, Malak," she said just before he pulled her close again and their lips met.

He smiled at her, his azure eyes sparkling in the faint light.

"Thank you, darling," he whispered.

"Come on, get out of bed. I'm not giving you _anything_ unless you get out of bed first," she teased.

He chuckled softly.

"Oh, alright," he said as he flashed her a pearly-white smile and then got up out of bed.

* * *

A little while later, they were sitting together on their small living room couch. Malak, who looked like he was drifting off to sleep, had his arm around Shirin, who was resting her head on his shoulder.

She looked up at him and then, after realizing that he was asleep, shook him awake.

His eyes popped open and he gave a rather un-Malak snort.

"Yes?" he asked softly as he turned to Shirin.

"I have one last present to give you," she whispered as she rubbed his hard stomach.

(Perhaps I should mention that he was shirtless. _Shocking_, isn't it?)

"Oh?" He raised one eyebrow.

She sighed and straightened up to face him.

"Yes. But it's not exactly something that can be wrapped...and I can't really give it to you right this instant."

Her hand slipped into his as he nodded, trying to urge her on. Maybe I was imagining it, but I could have sworn I saw her hand..._shaking_.

She closed her eyes and exhaled as she inched closer to him.

"What is it, Shirin?" he pressed on.

She looked straight up into his blue-gray eyes.

"Malak..." she whispered as she pulled his enormous, callous hand towards her, "I'm pregnant."

His eyes got _huge_ and his mouth kind of dropped open a bit as she slipped his hand under her shirt for him to feel.

It wasn't _highly_ noticeable yet, but it was just the slightest bit obvious, too- her stomach did kind of push forward a bit, just enough for there to be a possibility of calling it a bulge.

He said nothing and just stared like an idiot, his hand still on her as his eyes filled with tears.

She smiled up at him, her eyes tearing up, too, and from the look on her face, I don't think she had ever seen him cry.

"You're a daddy, Malak," she laughed softly.

The tears began to fly down his cheeks.

"How...how long have you known?"

"Three months," she said as she reached up and ran her hand through his glossy hair. "I wanted to wait and tell you on your birthday, though, because I knew how badly you wanted a baby."

I can't imagine it being very hard to keep the secret from him when he was gone half the time.

He pulled her closer to him and wrapped her in a hug. The tears were raining down now.

"Thank you _so_ much," he whispered, and it came out broken-up because of the fact that he was practically sobbing from joy. He kissed her softly on the lips. "This is the best gift anyone ever could have given me."

Yeah, we'll see about that.


	8. A Brother Betrayed

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Keep 'em coming!**

* * *

_**"Forget what we're told...before we get too old...show me a garden that's bursting into life..." -**_**Snow Patrol, _"Chasing Cars"_**

* * *

**Chapter Seven:**

**A Brother Betrayed**

Another six months came and went. In that time, Malak didn't even disappear once. He kind of just sat at home all day, taking care of his wife. This obviously made the masters a little mad, but they never really called him on it.

There was only one time that they made contact with him, and the only reason they told him was because it was something serious. Allow me to explicate (once again, information I learned _years_ later) - One of the masters led a double life- he had originally been a Jedi, but as a teenager, he had become so frustrated with everything around him that he fell to the darkside. He basically just bounced back and forth between his lives and tried to cover his tracks as best he could. So one day, as he went about his much-hated Jedi Recruiter business, he heard something about the Jedi Council telling Quinlan Jeshi that Malak Kenobi had become a Sith Lord. (Don't ask me how they knew. I don't even have the slightest.) That got the man's attention, and after he looked into it a bit more, he found out that they would be sending Quinlan to kill Malak after they tracked him down. The guy was beyond alarmed by this, but he was unsure of whether or not to tell Malak. He found Malak just as obnoxious as anyone else would have, so I guess he figured having someone kill Malak off wasn't necessarily such a bad thing. But when he heard that they were sending Quinlan and a few other Knights to a small outpost on Mustafar in the meantime, he came up with the genius idea of having Malak make sure that his Quinlan beat him to this whole being killed thing.

* * *

The thirty-first of March seemed like any other day to me until – and I'm not kidding here – _Malak_ (yes, _the_ Malak) commed me and requested my services. And it didn't exactly take a forensic scientist to figure out that Shirin had put him up to it.

I obviously told him, 'Hell no!', and almost hung the comlink up and ended the call, but then he told me that he would pay me handsomely if I did it, and that he would _actually_ pay me this time.

I thought about it for a while, and I decided to go with it, mainly because I needed the cash. I mean, I still hated him with a burning passion, but, as previously mentioned, I was going to get paid, and it wasn't really like I would have to _talk_ to him or anything completely irrational like that.

When he told me where I needed to take him and I asked why in blazes we were going to Mustafar of all places, he refused to say. And I just decided to stay shut up and not egg him on for my own good.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when I landed the ship in a grassy area right outside their house. Malak was waiting for me outside his door, and he looked kind of pissed.

He hadn't really changed too much- he still had that smug, self-assured look to him, and he seemed like he still hadn't grown out of carrying himself with an annoying overconfidence and sense of self-pride. He looked about the same physically as well, with the exception of his abundant facial hair and more muscular body.

I just wanted to get this over with, so I lowered the ramp and waited for him to come up. But I waited, and waited, and _waited_, and he _still _didn't come up, so I figured I was going to have to go down to see what the deal was, which unfortunately meant having to _interact_ with him. Just craptastic, right?

As I came down the ramp, he shot me that horrible, soul-piercing death stare. It was even worse than I remembered it. If looks could kill…

"I was beginning to wonder if you were even going to show up," he growled. "But then I remembered that speed isn't exactly your strong suit."

Were _you _surprised to hear something like that from him when I hadn't even said a word yet, because I wasn't. I had just gotten there and he was already starting with that. Talk about a slimy, low-lying piss-off.

"_This_ is what I get for doing you a favor out of the kindness of my heart?" I spat back. "You know, I don't _have_ to do this. I've got about a million things on my mind that I'd rather be doing right now."

Saying that was a retarded move on my part. It really was.

Malak shot me that killer look again.

I swallowed hard. That look scared the crap out of me. And the bad thing was that I think he knew it scared me.

He turned his head and looked back at his house, as if there was something in there that was troubling him immensely.

"I suppose you have ample space in that wretched bucket of bolts?" he asked emotionlessly, returning his focus to me and folding his arms over his chest.

"For what?" I asked sharply, fighting the temptation to tell him that my ship was no quote-unquote wretched bucket of bolts and was actually one of the nicest models on the market.

He looked behind him again.

"For whatever I bring on board," he snapped back, his attention transferring from the dumpy little house to me.

I cocked an eyebrow at him and leaned up against one of the ramp's supporting poles.

"Allow me to explicate," I said coolly, "I take you to wherever the hell it is that you need to go and then bring you back. I don't house your junk. I'm a pilot, not a storage service."

If the years of thinking about the Stewjon incident had given me anything positive, it was the courage to stand up to Malak, or at least kind of stand up to him. And by that I mean standing up to him with a lot of fear of what would happen after I stood up to him.

"And allow _me_ to explicate," Malak shot back. "You go along with whatever I say, and you do so without complaining."

I was just plain mad now. I wasn't about to let him walk all over me like that. Just no.

"Who died and made you ruler?" I quipped fearlessly, knowing I would regret it at some point in the immediate future. "I don't have to obey your every 'command'! I'm not your servant!"

Malak was immediately angered by the response, and he lunged at me ferociously , grabbing my arm and pinning it behind my back.

"Do it," he growled, his face coming dangerously close to mine.

I tried not to wince as he applied more pressure to my arm. Yes, my arm hurt, but I was _not_ about to give him the satisfaction of seeing me in pain. I needed to help myself, and quickly, too, so I kneed him in the groin, and he let go of me faster than I could blink. He doubled over in pain, and I went to give him a nice black eye, but I heard something that made me stop dead before I could do so.

"_MALAK!_"

We both turned around at the sound of Shirin's voice. I felt like a little boy whose mother had just caught him breaking something.

I turned to look at Malak, who was blushing profusely. He probably felt the same way.

"Malak, what are you doing to him?!"

The sound of her voice made my heart lurch. I had kind of been at peace with myself and our rocky relationship over the past couple of years, and, in all honesty, I had thought about her a lot less than I did before we were reunited. But seeing her just made it awkward.

Malak craned his head to look at her.

"Nothing, darling," he lied smoothly. He shot me a look that said, '_We'll finish this later.' _ and then walked off towards her.

I didn't even turn to look at them. _'Here we go again,'_ I thought as I stared down at my feet sullenly.

They started in my direction, and I looked up. Shirin was just the same –still beautiful, as always - except for one thing. One thing that added a whole lot of awkward to a situation that was already awkward enough.

Malak gently placed his hand on her extremely swollen stomach.

"How do you feel?" he asked softly.

She leaned her head against his chest.

"Not so good," she answered as her face twisted and she hissed in pain.

He pulled her closer to him. His hand cupped the side of her face as he gently placed a kiss on her forehead.

"It's just contractions. It will pass."

This wasn't making me as jealous as it was uncomfortable. I mean, yeah, she was gorgeous, but I sure as heck wasn't jealous of the fact that they were having a kid together. That was actually making me lose a lot of the interest I still had in her. Perhaps I should mention that I don't like kids. And I mean, I don't like them at _all._ They're loud and obnoxious and high-maintenance and gross. I don't understand people's obsessions with them. I really don't. And I can't even begin to say how sorry I feel for any kid that got stuck with _Malak_ for a father.

Malak turned his head and looked at me, his arms still wrapped around her. I guess he hadn't grown out of loving to try to make me jealous, either.

"I don't feel comfortable leaving her," he stated blatantly. "So I'm bringing her with me."

I don't even want to repeat what went through my mind when he said that.

"_Malak_," she said softly, as if she was reminding him of something that they had discussed a million times before.

He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"If it's alright with you," he added insincerely, turning back to me.

No, it wasn't alright with me. I didn't want anybody having a baby on my starship, especially not _Shirin_. That's just an entirely different breed of awkward. But did I say that? No. Again, I figured my life was worth more.

I sighed.

"Whatever. It's fine."

He nodded, as if I had just barely met his expected criteria, and then guided Shirin towards the ramp. They were about to go up when he suddenly stopped and walked over to me.

I groaned incoherently. What could His Royal Majesty possibly want _now_?

He gave me a hard look and then jabbed a long, skinny finger into my chest.

"I trust that I can leave you alone with her," he snarled, his hot breath hitting me in the face like a mallet.

I slapped his hand away boldly.

"She's already pregnant with _your_ baby, there's really not much I can do to her."

I was rewarded for that clever comeback by getting pushed down into the floor and landing butt-first in a rain puddle.

I'm not even going to say it.

I let them go up in peace, and, after I was sure that they were gone, I made my way up. By the time I actually made it up the ramp, I found that Malak had already laid her down on a spare bed against a wall (without asking me, obviously) and was kneeling down next to her, petting her head and doing all sorts of other stuff that seriously made me want to blow chunks.

"Mustafar, right?" I interjected, hoping to end the mush, at least momentarily.

Malak looked back up at me, pausing his vomit-inducing display of affection towards his wife.

"Yes. I presume you are familiar with it?"

"Relatively."

And with that, I turned around and left to the cockpit before he could say anything else.

* * *

It was two and a half hours before the hazy, blood-red planet came into view. I landed the ship on a landing platform right outside of a small outpost punched into the side of an obsidian mountain and then went to go get Malak. I hung back behind the wall for a second, though, because they were talking and it sounded kind of tense.

"What is it that you have to do?" I heard Shirin ask.

I was ready to bet everything I owned that he still hadn't told her about his switch of allegiances and was going to lie to her. And you better believe I was right.

"I have some…unfinished business to take care of," he replied quietly.

_Unfinished business_? Geez, his cover-ups were getting more and more uncreative by the day.

But still, I was kind of curious as to what this whole quote-unquote 'unfinished business' was. I mean, I had a feeling that it had _something_ to do with his evilness, but I wasn't sure of what exactly he was going to do. But I would learn the basic version of everything that was to transpire relatively soon, though.

I stepped further into the area and cleared my throat. She was sitting up on the bed and he was sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of her.

Malak turned and looked at me.

"We're here?" he asked in a surprisingly genteel tone.

I nodded, and Malak nodded back solemnly before returning his gaze to Shirin.

He stood up with a sigh and, for a moment, I thought I saw something I had never seen before in those icy eyes. I told myself to stop being ridiculous, because it was a ridiculous to think that I saw true sadness, remorse, and trepidation in Malak's eyes. I blinked to see if it would go away, but it didn't. He still had that look in his eyes, as if he was going off to accomplish the cruelest and most inhumane task ever conceived.

The look made me even more curious. What _was _he going to do?

Shirin caught the look and put her hand on the side of his face in a gentle, comforting gesture.

"What's bothering you?" she queried softly, so softly that I could barely hear it.

He looked up at her and their eyes met.

"Nothing," he whispered, his eye immediately darting away from hers as the word escaped his mouth.

"Malak, look at me," she said, gently lifting his head with her fingers.

His eyes found hers again.

"Promise me you'll be safe," she said as she stroked his hair.

He lovingly touched a hand to her stomach.

"I will," he breathed. "I have a wife and a child who need me."

I rolled my eyes. Does _every_ husband talk to his wife like that? Is there some hormone that your body releases when you get married that takes control of your mind and makes you say cheesy things like that?

Malak then leaned inward, and they shared a long, slow kiss. Whether it was sincere, an attempt to make me jealous, or both, I can't tell you. I can't even tell you if I was jealous.

When the kiss ended, Shirin suddenly looked pained. She hissed a bit, and Malak softly pushed her back down onto the bed.

"It will pass," he whispered distantly, giving her a kiss on the forehead and then standing up. He turned and gave me a look that said, '_Behave_.' and then left.

I'm sure he didn't think I could, but I still saw that look in his eyes.

I went back to the cockpit, sitting down in my chair and watching Malak disappear off into the molten wasteland.

Now it was a dead kind of silent. It was a dead, _awkward_ silence. A silence that reminded me of the fact that I was now alone with Shirin. And I wasn't tempted to go make out with her or anything like that because, well…the fact that she was pregnant had kind of made me lose interest. And in all honesty, I think she had gotten over me, anyway.

You see, _that_ was the awkward part – not being alone with teenage lover Shirin that I had nearly been killed for kissing – it was being alone with pregnant Shirin, who was having contractions and -

I shivered. Even finishing the thought sent a shiver down my spine. I did _not_ want to even _think_ about that. But as hard as I tried to push the idea away, I couldn't help but think that there was still a possibility that she would have the baby right then and there, with only me to help her…and what if it was twins? Or triplets? What if, what if, what if?!

I literally had to slap myself to snap out of it. _'Calm down,'_ I told myself. _'Nothing's gonna happen…nothing at all…'_

And then my mind went on racing, bringing me every gory possibility ever conceivable.

"I just have to stop thinking about it," I said to myself as I rubbed at my forehead. "Just forget about Shirin and everything that's happening on that side of the ship, Daro…just forget it…"

Yes, _of course_ I talk to myself, don't be ridiculous!

I needed something to distract myself and my overly-active imagination, so I reached into a small compartment and pulled out a radio and a memory chip. I plugged the chip into the radio and made my pathetic attempt to distract myself by listening to an assortment of grungy rock songs. It worked at first, but after a while, the crazy paranoia-caused ideas started creeping into my mind again. I put headphones on to help drown out any sounds other than the music and then pulled out a datapad, using it to look at distracting junk on the Holonet. And that's basically how I spent the next two hours.

Everything was going pretty well until I thought I heard someone calling my name. At first, I thought it was just something in the song I was listening to, but when I heard it again, I figured something was up.

I took the headphones off and paused the music. When I didn't hear anything, I went to put the headphones back on and resume my listening, but just as I was about to pull them over my head, I heard Shirin scream my name.

I'm not kidding when I say that I jumped three feet in the air and almost wet my pants.

I stood up from my chair, and she screamed _again_, sounding even more pained this time.

"I…I'm coming…" I called back timidly. I said it so fearfully and quietly that I don't even think she heard me. You remember when I said that I'm not comfortable with kids, right? Well, I'm even _less_ comfortable with birth. But, then again, who is comfortable with it?

I made my way over to her nervously, afraid of what I might see. I have a pretty wild imagination, but the stuff that the raving paranoia was making me imagine was just in a league of its own.

When I finally got to her, nothing had happened yet, but she was sweating like crazy and she looked _beyond_ pained.

"Uh…Shirin – "

"Daro…the contractions are getting worse – " I guess she was in so much pain that she had to stop mid-sentence.

I gulped, my face turning a ghastly shade of white. My worst fears were being realized.

"I…I don't think that's uncommon – "

I paused and tried to find comforting words, but the paranoia was on full throttle now and that was making it impossible to think.

"Shirin – "

I stopped dead. There was fluid trickling down her legs. My face went whiter than a sheet.

The trickling soon evolved into a steady streaming, and the streaming rapidly became gushing.

Oh yeah. Interest _officially_ lost.

She started breathing harder, and there were tears streaming down her face. My brain then kicked super-panicky paranoid mode into ludicrous speed. Do you know what it's _like_ to have your ex-girlfriend that you had a really weird history with go into labor in the back of your starship?! I don't think so.

"Daro, get Malak!" she screamed, digging her nails into the mattress as her face twisted in pain.

"I…I don't know where he is…" I managed to say. "I could try to comm him, but it might not wo– "

"DARO!"

I felt terrible for her, I really did. Force knows that had _I _married her, I never would have done anything this horrible to her.

I nodded and jerked back around in the direction of the cockpit. But I soon turned back to her, mainly because there was something I really needed to tell her.

"Shirin," I began uneasily, "I know you can't really control this or anything…but…could you try not to have your baby here, please?"

"I can try," she grunted hoarsely.

I can't even imagine how painful everything she was going through was. And the look of everything I saw now made me feel even worse for her. But, all the same, I didn't want a third little passenger. _Two_ Kenobis was bad enough. I didn't think I could possibly handle _three_.

I turned back for the second time and headed towards the cockpit. I was about half-way there, comlink already in hand, when my eyesight began to fog up and I felt slightly dizzy.

_'Oh no. Not now. Why now?'_ I thought. And before I could think up an answer, I slipped into a vision and passed out on the floor.

* * *

Malak had his back pressed flat up against the wall of a dilapidated building, as if he was trying to avoid being seen. He slowly poked his head around the corner – nothing was in the street except a stray dog that was gnawing on some remnant of some dead animal. A stray dog and a person.

There was a young human male sitting on his knees in the middle of the street, peering over the ledge and down into the river of lava that flowed underneath. This young man was Quinlan Jeshi.

Malak snuck out from behind the building. In the hazy, reddish light, I could still see that look – the remorse, the guilt, and the trepidation.

Everything would soon make sense.

Malak waited behind Quinlan with his lightsaber hilt in his hand, standing in a ready position. For some reason, he seemed unable to turn the lightsaber on. He bit down on his lip and exhaled, as if to expel the demon that was interfering with what he intended to do. And with that, he finally thumbed the saber on.

Quinlan's eyes popped open as he craned his head to look behind him. His eyes grew huge and he gasped, falling over onto his backside in horror as he took in the deathly sight of Malak, armed and dangerous with the lightsaber in a ready position.

"M – Master?" Quinlan stuttered.

Malak did not respond with words, but by pointing his saber at Quinlan to keep him down. He looked heavily burdened all the while.

The confusion soon poured over dusky, foxlike features like water over the side of a waterfall. He looked from the humming tip of the energy beam at his chest to Malak's eyes. He surely must have seen all of the guilty emotions that shone in those blue-gray pieces of ice.

"Malak…" he breathed as such sadness and consternation fell over his face. "Malak…why?"

That final word hung in the air like a rancid odor.

Malak just stared down at the young man who had once been apprentice, the emotions becoming more apparent than ever.

"Malak…don't…" Quinlan said softly, as if he believed he could turn Malak back. He sounded like he was on the verge of tears.

Malak, who was obviously not as good at controlling his emotions as his apprentice, had tears welling up in his eyes.

"Malak…"

It seemed as if that was the only thing that Quinlan could say. And I have never, in all my years, seen a look as sad as the one that Quinlan wore on his face as he said the name - the name of the Master he had once thought to be perfect, the Master who had gone evil.

There were tears streaming down both of their faces as Quinlan lay submissively at the end of Malak's lightsaber. I could tell that this was the hardest decision that Malak had ever made just from the look on his face.

"Malak…"

Quinlan could only say the name one more time before the guilty and indecisive look in Malak's face became as plain as day.

"I'm sorry, Quinlan," he said gravely.

Quinlan's eyes widened again in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but before the word could actually escape, Malak's saber moved from its position above his chest and went straight through his throat. His eyes went even wider and then glazed over as Malak lifted his hand and Force-pushed him over the ledge and into the sea of lava.

Malak slowly walked over to the ledge and stared down at the spot where his apprentice had fallen and met his fiery death. He dug his fingers into the basaltic gravel, allowing the tears to fly forth from his eyes.

* * *

When the vision faded away and I came to, I just lied on the floor face-down as everything sunk in.

Quinlan Jeshi was dead.

He was dead by Malak's sword.

That deep, seething hatred of Malak soon began to brew once again, just as it had so many times before. I just wanted to lie on the floor like a dead fish and never get up, but a blood-curdling scream from the back of the ship soon reminded me of the situation. The sadness and the anger were soon replaced by a cold, dark sense of mortal terror that flooded the area around me, filling every nook and cranny until it was the only thing I could feel.

I stood up and scratched my head, staggering over to the pilot's seat. I checked on Shirin using a security camera; to my utmost relief, there was no baby, at least not _yet_, but I wasn't sure of how much longer things could stay that way.

My worrying was not eased when I saw Malak coming across the landing deck, his clothing burnt and tattered and his face hidden in his hand. Instead of being relieved to see him for the first time in my life, like you may imagine, Malak's arrival actually made me furious. Not only was I trapped with my ex-girlfriend who was in the process of giving birth, but now I was stuck with that _and_ the man who was like my mortal enemy, the man who had just incinerated one of my closest friends.

I was still having difficulty accepting that he was dead.

I sighed and lowered the ramp, allowing the killer to board my starcraft. I was curious as to how he was going to explain this all to Shirin without revealing his switch of allegiances, so I snuck over to where Shirin was and hid behind a wall. I think _that_ was when I realized that I had maybe a good thirty minutes to get her to somewhere where she could have that stupid kid. And the reason I say that is because she was just lying there, immobilized by pain, with tears flying down her face at a ridiculous speed. I didn't know how much longer she could hold out.

Malak soon came around the corner and stopped next to Shirin, gently touching an ashen hand to her face as if to say, _'It's alright. I'm here now.'_ .

I studied the look on his face intently; he had dried his tears, but he still looked sadder than I had ever seen him.

He knelt down and kissed her softly on the lips, stroking her hair after he finished doing so.

"Malak…what…happened…?" she managed as her hand slowly crept into his larger one.

He shook his head wearily, shutting his eyes tightly and exhaling.

"Shirin…are you alright, darling?" he asked, and I couldn't really tell if he was honestly concerned or if he was just trying to change the subject.

I guess she had originally intended to answer with words, but before she could, she began hissing and crying in pain again.

Malak gripped her hand tightly and leaned in closer to her, running his hand through her hair.

"Shh," he cooed caressingly. "I know it hurts, darling…I know…"

Nope. Not even a _tiny bit_ of jealousy here. Not a one. And I'm not being sarcastic here, people. Sure, she was beautiful, that much was obvious. But this was just _beyond_ too much information.

Malak closed his eyes and placed his free hand on her stomach, probably using the Force to do who know what to that poor kid. (Why do I say 'that poor kid', you may ask? I felt bad for it because it was going to have _Malak_ for a father. You could shoot me _now_ and get it over with.)

After he had found whatever it was that he was looking for, he opened his eyes and exhaled heavily.

"We need to get to somewhere where you can be given proper medical attention," he said finally, the shakiness still in his voice and the remorse still in his eyes as he stood up.

"Daro…" Shirin said hoarsely. "Tell Daro…"

Malak nodded and gave her a kiss.

I then poked my head around the corner shyly, like a puppy that was afraid of being hit by its master.

Malak turned and looked at me with such sadness, angst, and guilt scribbled across his face that I dare say I _almost_ felt bad for him. But then I remembered Quinlan, and the small amount of newfound sympathy that I may have been feeling vanished just as quickly as it had come. The anger I had been feeling a few minutes before suddenly flooded back to me, and either he sensed it, or the look I gave him was overly-chilling, because a flash of anger appeared in his eyes as soon as we made eye-contact. But all of the other emotions were there, too.

"What's your problem, bastard?" he spat, his voice still a little unsteady.

_'What's my problem? What's my problem?! My problem is that you just _incinerated_ Quinlan Jeshi! You killed him, you son of a bitch! You killed him!' _is what I _wanted _to scream at him, but I didn't, because again, I wanted to live. So instead of screaming at him, I just decided to change the subject.

"There's a research center on the far side of one of Soccoro's moons that has a medical facility," I said before he could tell me the horrifying truth that I already knew. "It's less than a parsec away."

Malak nodded solemnly, which I guessed was his way of showing his approval.

I turned and walked back to my seat, surprised to see that Malak had followed me. I was afraid that he had some sort of new irrational task for me, and luckily, I ended up being wrong. All he did was sit down in the co-pilot's seat and cover his face with his hand, which I suppose was in an attempt to hide his tears from me. It was a failed attempt. A _miserably_ failed attempt.

Now, you know I've been in a lot of awkward situations. But let me tell you – I don't think you really know what true awkwardness is until your ex-girlfriend goes into labor in the back of your starship and, all the while, you're forced to sit peacefully with her murderer of a husband.

* * *

**And so the Grim Author claims her first victim. That chapter took _much_ longer to get here than I had expected (sorry!), and quite frankly, I don't know why. I guess I just got a little distracted. Unfortunately, this is probably the last chapter I will be able to write before school starts, and you know that once school starts back up again, updates will become real spaced out. I might have the next chapter up sometime within the next week and a half (if I'm lucky), but once sports start in a few weeks, it will be real slow going. I'm afraid that it may take me until Christmas to finish this story, no exaggeration. But it's getting good, so please stick by me. Now, enough with the bad news - it's time for some good news: in the next chapter, we finally meet Obi-Wan! (Please, people. _Try_ to control your excitement.) And that reminds me...FAN REQUEST TIME! **

**Okay...so...in the original version of the story (that I wrote in sixth grade and is such a reminder of my shame that I rarely speak of it), Obi-Wan's middle name was Malak. I had been torn between that and 'Ben' (uncreative, I know. Whatever. Haters gonna hate.), and I _still _ can't pick between them. So I'm gonna let _you guys_ pick his middle name for me. You know, so you can feel like you contributed a little. Tell me if you want Malak or Ben in a review, and which ever one is the most popular will be his middle name. And remember, you don't have to love the story with all your heart and soul to help me pick a middle name! REVIEWS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!**

**Until the Alabama Moon falls from the sky,**

**J. Max**

**P.S.: R.I.P. ROBIN WILLIAMS...LOVE YOU, MAN. LOVE YOU. THANKS FOR INSPIRING ME. YOU WILL BE MISSED. :(**


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